Kayeight
by amy1oM
Summary: The Resistance makes a terrible discovery regarding a Taelon experiment. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Kayeight**

**By **Lomeinie

**Rating: **PG-13

**Spoilers: **Up to the end of Season 1

**Summary: **The Resistance makes a terrible discovery regarding a Taelon experiment.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Earth Final Conflict or the characters. I have made no money off this and I expect not to be sued!

o0o

It seemed rarely anymore that William Boone found time to himself. He was always at his office working, or with Da'an, or with Lili, or at the underground's headquarters...

Today, he had made sure he would have at least a few hours alone to visit Kate's grave and to lay flowers on it. Kate had been gone for a year this very day and yet Boone found that the pain had not lessen with time. A year ago today she had smiled on him for the last time, had kissed him for the last time...

Boone neared the grave and knelt, laying the bouquet he had brought with him on top of the grave. He stared down at her name on the tomb stone, the cold tombstone, and felt grief overwhelm him.

I love you, Kate." he whispered, fighting back tears and fighting back even more so his memories of her. But the curse of the C.V.I. was to remember frequently and vividly. Finally, he quite fighting it and allowed the memories to surface...

In his mind his saw Kate as she had been on their wedding day...

He saw the church where they were married as it had been...he saw friends, family,children and so much more vividly...

Everything seemed so simple then- before the arrival of the Taelons on Earth. Now his life was shattered because the most precious person of his life was dead, killed by on of the Companions' own instruments.

Sandoval...

The man was to be pitied and Boone long ago had realized this. He was not in control of what he did. No, the Taelons controlled his life so completely...

The beep of his global brought him out of his thoughts and he sighed in irritation. He took it from its clip on his belt and opened it.  
Sandoval's face was on the screen.

"Yes?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"Where are you. Boone? I'm at your office." Sandoval replied.

"I had some business to take care of this morning. I indicated it in my schedule." Boone said.

"There's been a change of plans for today, Boone. Da'an wishes to see us both at his office as soon as possible." Sandoval replied.

"All right, I'll meet you at Da'an's office." Boone said.

Sandoval nodded and broke the link.

"Marquette, Lili." Boone said into his global. He waited for Lili to answer her link. When she did, she looked like she had just got out of bed. "Were you asleep?" he asked.

"Yes, I was. Let's just say I had a late night last night." she replied, stifling a yawn. She glanced at her clock. "Why are you  
calling this early for? I thought you said you were going to-"

"That's where I am at the moment, but Sandoval called and said Da'an wants to see us in his office as soon as possible." Boone  
replied.

"All right, where do you want me to meet you?" she asked.

"I'll be at my office, so meet me there." he said.

Lili nodded. "See you in a few minutes."

"Right."

"...You're in a very good mood this morning." Lili said in transit from Boone's office to Companion Headquarters in Washington D.C. Boone shot her a glare but didn't reply. "If I were you, Boone, I wouldn't go into meet Sandoval and Da'an with a chip on my shoulders."

"I do not have a chip on my shoulders."

"Yes, you do. Boone, you're acting like Sandoval. I think they'll both notice your mood." Lili said. Boone sighed audibly with that.

"I guess my mind's on Kate, that's all. I admit my life doesn't feel like mine anymore. I have spent more time in Washington than at my own office and home. I'm torn sometimes, Lili, as to what my life is anymore. Between the Taelons and Doors...I just not sure of anything." he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Boone walked in just after Sandoval. There was another Taelon standing near Da'an. It was Ne'eg, Boone recalled his name with the ease that the C.V.I allowed.

"Good morning, Commander Boone, Agent Sandoval." Da'an said, greeting them in the Taelon manner. Ne'eg regarded Da'an with a  
strange look, but said nothing. Boone and Sandoval returned Da'an's greeting and salute.

"Ne'eg has come to us with a difficulty that occurred at the research center in the evening last." Da'an began explaining why they had been summoned. He motioned to the air and the datastream came on, showing  
the research center under alert. There were several disguised men running from the facility, carrying containers and some were five or six feet long easily. Da'an deactivated the datastream and turned to face Boone and Sandoval again.

"What was in those containers?" Boone asked.

"The combined work of both Companion and human scientists." Ne'eg answered. He wasn't going to elaborate.

"The Synod wishes for the recovery of all stolen materials." Da'an said. Sandoval nodded as did Boone.

"We'll leave immediately for the center." Sandoval said.

"I will accompany you." Ne'eg said. He nodded to Da'an.

Sandoval accompanied Ne'eg while Boone and Lili walked around the building's perimeter, searching for any clues as to who was responsible.

Boone already knew though who was responsible.

"Doors is behind this, isn't he?" he asked quietly.

Lili looked at him. "Of course he is." she replied.

"What was Jonathan thinking and what was stolen?" Boone asked. Lili continued to take scans, ignoring him. "Lili, answer me please."

"You'll have to talk to Doors about it. I don't know what they took last night." Lili replied.

"I will if I can get away from Sandoval long enough. Meanwhile, would you contact Doors and find out what it was they stole. It doesn't look like that neither Da'an or Ne'eg will inform me any time soon." Boone said.

"All right. I'll contact Jonathan as soon as it's safe." Lili said.

"Thank you."

The opportunity came to contact later that afternoon when Sandoval returned to speak with Da'an and Ne'eg remained at the center. Boone and Lili returned to his office and then walked to the church which housed  
the Resistance underneath it.

They came in to find Dr. Belman bent over a container that had the markings of the research center, and Doors was standing beside her as well, he too bent over whatever they were studying.

"Jonathan, we need-."

Doors held up his hand to silence Boone. Boone walked up beside him and looked at their subject of interesting. Julianne straightened up and looked at him.

"It's exactly what I feared it to be." she said.

"Then we did the right thing?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Do either of you want to explain to me what you're talking about?" Boone asked. Julianne started as though she hadn't noticed his presence before then.

"Jonathan, do you want to handle this? I'd like to continue to work." she said. Doors nodded and motioned towards a nearby table.  
He waited until Boone was seated. "Last night, as you know, we upon Dr. Belman's advice, entered the Taelon science and medical research facility to confirm if what she had told us was true and if so 'borrow' some of the Taelons' work." Doors said.

"Wait a minute, Jonathan, you haven't told me yet what it was you thought was in there." Boone said. By this time Julianne decided to join them at the table, bringing two cups of much needed coffee with her. She set a cup before Jonathan and was seated across from him.

"I found the evidence about two weeks ago that the Taelons had begun a cloning experiment." she said.

"Cloning what?" Boone asked.

"At first, I didn't know and I didn't dare ask too many questions. But then I mentioned it to Jonathan and he had Augur to tap into  
the center's computer."

"Wait a sec! Augur tapped into a Taelon computer?" Boone asked.

"Relax, Boone, I am good but not that good." Augur said across the room from his computer. Boone smiled and waited for Belman to continue her story.

"We found evidence that the Taelons were conducting experiments in cloning plants and animals. There's a possibility they've cloned  
the dead too." she said.

"As in dead animals?" Boone asked.

"No, as in people who are dead." Doors replied.

"Oh, dear lord." Boone said. "Did you take any of those clones?"

"Yes, we did. We haven't taken them out of stasis as of yet." she answered.

"Are you?" Boone asked. He looked at Doors and Dr. Belman as he asked this question.

"No-" Julianne began.

"Yes, we are." Doors interrupted her. She looked at him.

"Jonathan, I can't sanction it. I refuse too. We have no right to see just how far they've come in this experiment. It'll be like  
desecrating the dead." she said.

"The Taelons already have desecrated them, violated them, doctor. We need to know how much success they've had with these experiments." Doors replied.

"Jonathan, I-"

"He's right. We've got to know." Boone said. He stood up from his seat. "I've got to go before Sandoval and Da'an start looking  
for me. Let me know anything you learn about the clones."

Another two days of studying passed before Dr. Belman would consider taking the human clones out of stasis. She suggested that  
only one of the clones be take out of stasis for study and Doors agreed.

"This one." she said, pointing to the coffin like cryogenic stasis chamber.

"Why this one?" Doors asked.

"Because according to this, this is a clone of female. She'll be easier to handle if we encounter any problems or complications."  
Julianne replied. Doors nodded. "Stand back, I'm going to try to open the chamber."

Doors backed away and Dr. Belman set about her work, trying to find the opening sequence of numbers that would unlock the chamber. After a minute she sighed. "I need Augur's help." she said finally. Doors nodded and left the room to return a few moments later with the computer genius.

"Okay, let's see if we can't get this open." he said, looking at the capsule's control panel. After a moment, he looked up at Doors. "This is going to take awhile." he said.

"Why?"

"It has multiple encryption sequences. The Taelons are not fools. I can set up a program which will adapt and eventually crack the code, but it will take several hours." he said.

"Do it." Doors said and Augur set about his work. Doors looked at Julianne. "Get some rest in the meantime." he told her.

"If I only could. I need to spend sometime at my office, otherwise I'm going to draw attention to myself from Da'an."

"Be careful." Doors said.

"I will, I will. Speaking of rest, you get some too." Doors opened his mouth to argue with her.

"No arguments, Jonathan. Consider it doctor's orders."


	3. Chapter 3

Sandoval was trying every lead, no matter how ridiculous they may have seemed otherwise. He kept Boone and Lili in the field, sending them the coordinates over the global link, keeping them checking out one site or the other.

It was late afternoon before they landed the shuttle with any certainity for more than five minutes. They landed it in a small town just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah because of an unavoidable emergency which came up.

"Are you sure this can't wait?" Boone asked with a smile on his face as Lili unfastened her restraints. She shot him a very deadly look.

"We have been running all day and I have to visit the little pilot's room, otherwise you're not going to like the results." she replied. Boone held up his hands in a gesture of peace and unfastened his restraints.

"I need to stretch my legs anyway." he said.

"Uh huh. See you in a few." she said.

As Lili rushed off towards a small filling station, Boone walked slowly around the shuttle, hoping Sandoval didn't choose that moment to call on his global link. People were giving the shuttle curious stares and a few children even approached it...

"Got it!"

Doors sat up from where he laid with his eyes closed. He had been only partially asleep, trying to rest a little to satisfy Dr. Belman. He was immediately on his feet and over at Augur's work station.

"There is the code."

"Contact Dr. Belman in a few hours and let her know you've cracked the code." Augur nodded.

"Maybe we should inform Boone as well?" he suggested.

Doors nodded his consent and Augur sent a message to Boone's global.

The global bleeped and Boone sighed, thinking it was Sandoval. He opened his global and saw Augur's face staring back at him.

"Augur, this had better be important." he said.

"It is. I cracked the code to open one of the containers that your employers are trying to retrieve. Doors want you here when we open it in a few hours." Augur replied, ignoring Boone's tone of voice.

"I can't make any promises. Sandoval has us running all over the country looking for your prize." He glanced up. Lili was approaching fast. "I need to go. Don't call me again, Augur." he said and snapped the link shut.

"Who was that?" Lili asked as she neared Boone.

"Let's get in the shuttle and I'll tell you." he replied. Lili shrugged and followed him.

"That was Augur. He said they cracked the code on one of those containers."

"Are they going to open it?"

"Augur said they were in a few hours."

Boone's global bleeped again. He opened it and this time Sandoval was at the other end.

"Boone, you and Captain Marquette proceed to the following coordinates immediately."

"Will do." He snapped it shut. "The hunt is on again."

It was nearly ten P.M. when Dr. Belman entered their underground headquarters. She was exhausted still but had managed to get some rest since her departure earlier that day.

"All right. Let's get this over with." she said.

Augur entered the code and the command to open the lid. The lid came off with a hiss. Two assistants quickly removed it for Belman and she quickly immersed herself in studying who was in the container.

"Oh my..." she breathed. She looked at Doors.

"What? What is it, Julieanne?" he asked upon seeing the look upon her face. She motioned for him to come to her.

In the coffin like container laid clone of a woman in around her thirties. Her hair was blonde in color and her eyes were shut as she was in stasis.

"They cloned Kate Boone." she said.

After a moment of silence Doors spoke. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Jonathan. It is Kate Boone."

Another moment of silence followed.

"I'll contact Lili and have her bring Boone here."

It was well after midnight before they could contact even Lili. The search was abandoned for a few hours upon Da'an's orders so that his human aides could rest themselves.

Boone left his office, grateful to being able to go home for a little while. He had just crawled into the bed when the phone began to ring. The sound startled him. People so rarely called him using a telephone anymore. Nowadays it was usually either by via the global link or the Taelon technology of the data stream.

He picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Boone, it's Lili. Sorry, I'm sure you just got in bed but Jonathan wants to see us tonight." she said. She sounded as tired as he felt.

"I don't suppose he told you why did he?"

"Not exactly. Will you be ready by the time I get there?"

"Sure."

They walked into the Resistance's Headquarters and immediately Boone knew whatever was going on was serious. Very serious. Dr. Belman motioned him over to a corner where she and Doors were already talking something over.

"Now what is so important this couldn't wait for a decent hour?" Belman motioned for him to sit down. After he was seated, she looked to Doors rather nervously. He noticed their exchange.

"What is it? Did you open the containers?"

"Yes, we did, Will."

"Well?"

Belman laid a hand on his arm.

"Will, they cloned...your wife."

Boone sat quite stunned for a second before what she had just said registered. "The Taelons cloned Kate?" he asked. When she nodded he stood up to pace.

"How?" he asked quietly.

"I can't be certain of how they did it, Will, but all that was needed to clone Kate was a hair or sample of her blood. I ran a check on her DNA. It is Kate."

A minute of silence passed as Boone paced restlessly. He stopped and looked at Belman suddenly. "Let me see the clone." he said in

a quiet voice.

"Do you think that's wise?" Doors asked.

"I need to see what they've done, Jonathan."

"Even if it means facing the clone of your wife?"

"Even then."

Julieanne stood up. "Come on. I'll take you to the lab."

The clone of Kate Boone was perfect in every way. Boone slowly approached the replicant of his deceased, beloved wife and could not believe that is wasn't Kate lying there. Dr. Belman kept her distance, having explained to him that they were keeping the clone sedated for obvious safety precautions.

Boone reached out and stroked her hair. The feel of it almost made him want to weep. How many times during the past year had he wanted to touch Kate again? He had long ago lost count...

The clone's skin was warm and vibrant to his touch. Boone took the clone's hand and unable to hold his tears back any longer, he laid his head on her chest and wept.

Lili had entered the lab since then and stood beside Belman. They watched as Will Boone fought with his emotions and grief. Lili had tried initially to help Boone when he was first grieving over Kate, and she now saw him as he had been those first few weeks they were together.

He would need her help again and Lili knew she'd be there...

Over the next few days, as Boone and Lili continued the search to recover the stolen research of the Taelons, Dr. Belman continued to study the clones they had acquired. Finally she saw that there was no other recourse but to awaken the clone of Kate Boone in order to gage just how much progress the Taelons had made. After Doors reluctantly agreed to it, she requested that Boone be present.

Boone came in, his appearance consistent with someone who had neither slept nor rested very well in the lasts few days. He was quiet and said nothing to Belman as she prepared to awaken the clone from her slumber.

Belman was about to inject the clone of Kate when she paused to look at Boone.

"Will, are you sure you're all right with this?" she asked quietly.

"We've got to do this. We have to know of just how far the Taelons can go. I'll get through this." he said. She laid a hand on his shoulder.

"If you're sure then we'll proceed." she said. She walked over to the clone, and injected the stimulants into the neck of the clone. She stood then over her, waiting for signs that the clone who was now Kate Boone was regaining consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

Kayeight slowly opened her eyes and looked up into Dr. Belman's. She struggled to sit up but found herself restrained by the doctor.

"Please, try to relax."

Kayeight looked up to her.

"Can you speak?" Belman asked. "Can you understand what I'm saying to you?"

Kayeight nodded. "Yes, I can. Where am I?"

"You're among friends."

Suddenly Kayeight looked as though she were suddenly remembering someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Will?" she called out. She somehow must have sensed him in the room, Boone realized because he had remained out of sight up until that very moment. He moved to come within her sight but Doors stopped him.

"That's not your wife, remember?"

Boone shook off his grip. "I don't care, Jonathan." he replied in a low voice. Kayeight's head turned upon the sound of his voice.

"Will?" she called out again, this time her voice was pleading. Boone glared at Doors for a few more seconds before moving to the table's left side. He took Kayeight's hand as he reached her side.

"Will! Oh, Will!" she cried. She sat into his arms and they embraced as though it had been a lifetime since they had last laid eyes upon one another. For the second time in that week, Will Boone cried from feeling his wife in his arms again. She pulled back from him, having seen him never cry before that. Gently she wiped his face, looking into his eyes  
as she did so.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Kate, don't you remember anything?" he asked.

"The last thing I remember happening is seeing you at the police station, us talking about your job offer with the Companions...someone was following me as I drove home..." she looked at him. "I can't remember what happened after that."

He kissed her. "Don't try and force yourself to remember. It's all right." he assured her. Kayeight went for his hand and she felt the skrill on his wrist.

"What is that?" she asked. He pulled his sleeve up even further to allow her full view of the skrill. She touched the symbiont.

"That job I was considering whether or not to take with the Companions...well I took it a little over a year ago. This came along with the job." he answered.

"Then why don't I remember anything about it, Will?"

Dr. Belman stepped in before he could reply.  
"I'd like to run some diagnostics, Kate, just to be sure you are in perfect health." she said. Kayeight looked to her husband.

"Will, what is going on?" she asked in a whisper.

"It's all right, Katie. We'll talk later. Doctor Belman just wants to be sure that you're okay." he said. She nodded and he kissed her very briefly. "I'll be in the next room if either one of you need me." he said.

Doors was still standing by the door, waiting for Boone to join him.

After the door was shut he urned on Boone. "What is the matter with you anyway? That is not your wife but some Taelon monstrosity, an  
experiment of theirs in cloning." he said.

"Jonathan, I have lived this last year of my life without the most important person of my entire life not present. You've got to understand something here. The day I laid Kate to rest, I buried of part of myself.  
I buried the most important part of myself, one I thought I would never be able to regain. And now...now I've been given this second chance, even it is Kate in the form of a Taelon clone. No one, is going to deny  
me this chance. Not the Taelons, and certainly not you."

Dr. Belman completed her examination and confirmed that Kayeight was perfectly healthy. She was now alone in the laboratory of the Resistance's Headquarters while its members discussed of how they were going to deal with this situation.

"We should consider allowing Sandoval to find some of the materials that were stolen. Otherwise he's going to keep us in the field until doomsday." Lili said. Doors nodded and looked to Belman.

"How much longer will you need to study the clones?" Belman shrugged. "I can't give an estimate. I really shouldn't rush this, Jonathan, not if you want to know what extent the Taelons have gone to."

"All right. Lili, you and Boone need to hang in just a little longer. Maybe we should give Sandoval something for you to chase much  
closer to home."

"That would be a welcomed change."

"We'll give it some thought and contact you when we come up with a plan. Just hang in there."

"In the meantime-"

"In the meantime, both of you go home and get some rest." Belman interjected. She looked to Boone who had been quiet and withdrawn  
through the entire conversation. He looked at her, ready to protest.

"Will, you've got to rest otherwise the stress is going to take its toll on you." she said gently. Boone looked back to Kayeight's direction.

"I can't leave her." he said.

Doors looked as though he were about to say something but Dr. Belman silenced him by laying a hand on his arm and nodding almost imperceptibly.

"Boone..., Will, you can't endanger our cover by being exhausted tomorrow." Lili said, she too was being as gentle as possible.

"All right," Boone said with a nod. "I'll go. But let me talk with her first." Belman nodded her consent and Boone was out of the  
room in a flash and with Kayeight.

"I would never have expected him to...to fall so hard for a Taelon creation." Doors commented. Lili looked at him.

"You've never grieved for someone you loved deeply. The anniversary of Kate's death effected him, Jonathan, on a very profound  
level." Lili said. Doors was silent for a moment, staring straight ahead of himself before standing up. He looked at Lili. Though there was a deep scowl on his face, when he spoke his voice was unusually gentle.

"You're wrong, Lili. I have grieved before." he said and walked off.

Kayeight laid with her eyes closed, her breathing indicated she was sleeping. Boone came in the room quietly, nearing the table on which she laid. He took her hand gently, and she opened her eyes. She sat up and into his arms. As he settled onto the table she laid her head on his chest.

"Will, I'm scared." she said in a whisper.

He stroked her hair. "Of what? Kate, I'm here with you. No one here will harm you. I promise you they won't."

"Will, what's going on? It's as though I've been in a coma for a long time...years perhaps." she said.

Should he tell her about what had happened in the last year?

"Katie," he began slowly, "There's something I have to tell you about what's been happening in my life in the last year...without you."

Kayeight pulled away from him and looked at him, a deep puzzlement in her eyes. "I don't understand." she said. He sighed, trying to  
come up with a way to explain to her about what had happened.

"Kate, you said the last thing that you remember is going home after seeing me at the station," he paused and she nodded, "You also  
said you remember being followed. You were followed by a man named Corr. He..." he stumbled.

"Go on...please."

"Kate, you died that day. Corr killed you." he finished.

"If I died that day, then how can I be here now, talking to you, Will?" she asked.

"Know that it's true, Katie. I've spent this last year...trying to deal with the grief your death caused and also trying to figure out just how to live my life without you...without your love." he said. Kayeight was silent as she absorbed his words.

"I don't care about the reason I'm here with you now. We're together again. We've been given a second chance, Will." she said finally. She kissed him briefly.

"Yes...a second...chance." he replied.


	5. Chapter 5

Boone did not go home that night. He could not leave Kayeight's side and no one had the heart to force them apart. Instead, he spent the night talking with his wife, telling her details of the past year of his life, telling her about everything, including Da'an and his work.

In the early hours of the morning he brought her outside of the lab, into the eerily empty headquarters of the Resistance, showing her the work that they were trying to accomplish. Only Augur remained out in the main area, working on one of his infamous scams. He looked up upon hearing the sound of laughter and stood to his feet.

"Good morning, Boone." he said. He rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"Augur, I didn't realize you were still here."

"I had some work to catch up on. Aren't you going to introduce us?" he asked indicating Kayeight with a motion of his hand.

"Kate, this is an...associate of mine, Augur. Augur, this is my wife Kate."

Augur bowed mostly chivalrously, reaching for Kayeight's hand to kiss it. "Enchante...It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Boone." he said.

"All right, Augur. That's enough." he looked to Kayeight. "Do not let him fool you. He's just a smooth talker."

"Like you, Will Boone?" she asked.

He smiled. "Guilty as charged."

Augur cleared his throat and sat back down to his computer, shutting it down quickly. "It's time for a little sleep." he said. "What time is it anyway?"

"About 4:15 AM...Local time of course."

"I've got to go soon. Da'an will be expecting me at his office at 7:30." Boone said.

"I'll alert Doors that you're leaving. He should be getting up by now." Augur said, taking out his lobal. Doors told Augur not to leave 'the clone' alone in their nerve center and that he was on his way. "Hurry, I'm about to fall asleep." he said, snapping the link shut.

"I'll be back as soon as I can today." Boone promised Kayeight.

"I'll hold you to that." she said.

"I love you." he said, kissed her briefly, and left without a backward glance.

"...there are matters of great importance that require our attention today." Da'an said in his beautiful alien tones. With a graceful gesture he activated the datastream. The news came on immediately, showing a protest going on in front of the research in which the clones were stolen from. The protesters signs read as: The Companions have violated us!!! They used our dead in unnatural experiments Clones are a violation of our trust!!!!...few others that called the Companions a few choice names, a few Boone wouldn't dare say out loud. Da'an deactivated the datastream, causing the shouts of the protesters to die.  
"It appears that Mr. Doors has been busy rather of late." Sandoval commented.

"Do we know it was Doors who released this information to the public?" Boone asked. Sandoval looked from Da'an over to him and back to Da'an.

Da'an nodded to his implant.

"Haven't you heard this morning? A reporter with the New York Times released this article as an exclusive expose. He's refused to reveal his source, but it is our belief that Jonathan Doors was behind this report." Sandoval replied.

"Has he been interrogated yet?" Boone asked.

"Not as of yet. We-"

"The protesters should be dealt with first. It is a top priority." Da'an interrupted his aide. As Sandoval nodded Da'an continued. "Agent Sandoval, prepare a team for this assignment. Use only force which will render the people unconscious should they choose to resist. They are not to be harmed in any permanent fashion."

"Yes, Da'an." Sandoval said. He saluted, after Da'an returned it, he turned to leave the room.

"Commander Boone shall accompany you and your team as well."

After Sandoval left, Boone turned to face Da'an, to question the Taelon.

"Is this what was stolen from the research center?" he asked. Da'an looked at him from the corners of his eyes, which told Boone he was not answering this question willingly.

"Your answer is yes." he said finally. He stood up from his chair and descended to the level of his implant. He walked slowly towards the room's window to gaze out of the virtual glass at Washington D.C. Boone followed him.

"Why would the Synod wish to make this venture into human cloning?" Boone asked.

"Up until this day, the Synod had not informed me that they had undertaken such an adventure. You must understand, Boone, my fellows view my attitudes towards humanity to be as... protective. They knew I would object to this experiment." Da'an said.

"Would you have?" Boone asked.

Da'an gazed on him. "Yes...in light of our past failures concerning human bioengineering, I most certainly would have objected."

"How far has the Synod ordered this experiment to go?"

"I do not know."

The mob was in an ugly mood. Boone, Lili, Sandoval, and a special selection of his team were dressed in full riot gear, including shields and helmets, and we standing between the protesters and the research center.

A few of Da'an's special implanted task force had joined them as well. Sandoval picked up a bullhorn to address the crowd.

"This request comes directly from the office of the American Companion and the Taelon Synod. We ask that you disperse immediately in a peaceful, orderly fashion. Leave your signs behind and return to your homes or places of employment."

"What if we choose not to? What are you going to do then?" a heckler yelled. A tomato came sailing, hitting Sandoval's shield.

"We will use force if necessary. If it comes to that I can assure you that everyone present will be arrested." he replied. The Asian implant was very quickly losing his patience. He looked to Boone and his team leader, signaling them to prepare to use force. Someone shouted a curse, indicating that all implants, Taelons, and even Da'an could all go straight to a very hot place. With that the crowd began to rain vegetables, rocks, and bottles in their direction.

"Now!" Sandoval gave the order.

On cue, the riot control team drew their weapons, stunners and gas guns designed to render a body unconscious without any permanent damage as Da'an ordered. All the team members wore gas masks, and slowly they moved forward firing the weapons.

Boone made sure to watch Lili's back, having dealt with this kind of mob before in his days as a police captain. He and Lili had gas guns, preferring it to the stunners. When he had gassed his fifth protester, Boone made a mental note to talk with Doors when he had the chance.

Lili turned, she too just having finished gassing her fifth man, and saw that Boone wasn't watching his back very proficiently. A mob member was approaching him from behind, carrying a baseball bat.

"Boone! Behind you!" she yelled.

Boone heard her warning and turned immediately only to get a hard blow to his helmet. It shattered his protective shielding sending shards of it flying into his face. Boone fell to the ground, landing hard on his backside, sending his gun flying over head. Lili ran to stop the man from beating Boone to a pulp, when she heard the familiar sound of a skrill blast. The man with the bat fell to the ground. Lili turned to see Sandoval nodding briefly to her before returning to his task of subduing the angry mob. Lili reached Boone's side and knelt beside him.

His eyes were closed, and his breathing seemed shallow. Lili felt on his neck for a pulse. It was slow but steady. She patted his face a few times, trying to wake him up.

"Come on, Boone, this is no time for a nap." she said. He didn't respond and Lili realized that it was the gas keeping him unconscious as well as the blow he'd received. She looked up to see Sandoval's force subduing the last of the mob.

"Take all these people into custody." Sandoval ordered before heading to Boone and Lili's direction. He neared them and knelt beside Boone.

"How is he, captain?" he asked.

"He got a rather nasty blow to the head, but I believe it's the gas in this area that's keeping him unconscious. We should get him to Dr. Belman as soon as possible." she said. Sandoval nodded and turned to one of his men.

"Get some medics out here to attend to Commander Boone."

"Yes, sir."

He turned back to Lili. "Watch him, captain. I should inform Da'an of what transpired here."

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

The medics moved Boone onto the shuttle and Lili took him straight to Dr. Belman. Belman quickly injected a stimulant into his system, bringing Boone out of his gas induced sleep.

"What? Where I am?" he mumbled.

"Will, you're in my office. Do you remember what happened?" she asked. She was carefully removing Boone's helmet, trying not cut him any further.

"I was at the research center...whoa that man hit me in the head with that baseball bat. Why does my face hurt?" he asked as he became less and less groggy.

"When he hit you, it shattered your helmet's protective shield. There's a shard embedded an inch below your right. Hold still." she said as he moved to touch it. She probed it carefully causing him to take in a sharp breath. "Sorry. I'll give you a local anesthetic to deaden it before I take it out." she said.

"Will I need stitches?" he asked.

"Only a few. The cut isn't very wide and it shouldn't be too noticeable." she said. At that moment, Belman's global began to beep and she smiled at him. "Be right back. Try and relax." she said.

"Right."

She stepped before the screen and Da'an appeared on it. "Doctor, what is Commander Boone's condition?" he asked.

"There are no serious injuries to report, Da'an. He does require stitches however underneath his right eye where a shard from his helmet's protection shield entered. I'll remove the shard and stitch the wound." she  
answered.

"How long do you require to attend his injuries, doctor?"

"Thirty to forty-five minutes, possibly an hour."

"Have Boone contact me when he is finished."  
She nodded and Da'an severed the link. She rejoined Boone.

"Will it really take you that long to stitch me up?" he asked.

"No, I need an opportunity to ask you some questions about Kate." she replied.

"All right."

Dr. Belman finished her work and took Boone into her office where they could talk without being overhead. She sat behind her desk and motioned for him to sit down across from her.

"What is it you needed to know about Kate?" he asked.

"Will, I've been trying to come up with a way that the Taelons could have gotten a sample of her DNA. Before she died, did Kate go to a doctor and have and blood work done for any reason?" she asked.

The CVI quickly recalled a conversation that he and Kate had shared two weeks before she died. Kate had suspected that she might be pregnant and had arranged for a doctor's appointment.

"Two weeks before she died, Kate told me she suspected that she might have been pregnant." he answered.

"Did you tell you what kind of lab work she had done?" Belman asked.

He nodded no. "She didn't tell me. At the time we were both disappointed that she wasn't." he replied.

"Can you at least tell me the name of the doctor she went to? I might be able to pull up the records and find out."

Again the CVI performed its function perfectly.

"Doctor Trevor Collins."

"Trevor Collins?"

"Yes, do you know him?"

"Trevor and I were among the first physicians to begin working with the Companions shortly after their arrival. I haven't talked with him for over two years." she answered. She looked at her clock. "Da'an will be expecting you to call in a few moments."

"I wonder what else he has in store for us today."


	6. Chapter 6

"Doctor Collins, there's a Dr. Julieanne Belman waiting to speak with you on the global."

Doctor Trevor Collins looked up to the nurse. He nodded. She left the room as he turned to face the monitor. He smiled.

"It's been a long time, Julieanne." he said.

"Too long, Trevor."

"You didn't call me though to catch up, did you?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not. I need some information on a patient of yours from a over a year ago."

"You know I can't disclose patient information."

"Trevor, you know I work for the Companions. I wouldn't have called if this wasn't necessary."

"Who do you need the information on?"

"A woman named Kate Boone."

"Kate Boone? Isn't she deceased now?"

"Yes, and according to her husband you were the last physician to see her just prior her death."

"Julieanne, can you meet me today? I have the information...but I'd rather we meet in person when I give it to you."

"All right. Do you still have your old office?"

"Yes. Meet me in Roddenberry's Park in 2 hours...at 5:00."

"I'll be there, Trevor. See you then."

Doors almost cringed upon seeing the beautiful addition to Boone's face as he walked into their underground nerve center. Boone was clearly unhappy and he made his way over to Doors' position. Lili followed closely behind him.

"What happened to you?" Doors asked as they neared him.

"We were part of a riot control team today at the Madison Research Center." Lili answered before Boone could.

"Ah...that explains it." Doors said.

"Did you really have to release that information to the public, Jonathan? That crowd today was only a small part of what's to come once people all over the world learn about this." Boone said.

"People have a right to know what the Taelons have been doing to our dead. What's more, they could replace humanity with these clones if people remain unaware that this is going on. Besides, I seem to remember that you and Lili requested a diversion for Da'an and Sandoval a little closer to home. That mob was your diversion."

"Could you be more subtle in your methods in the future please?" Boone said, unconsciously touching his stitches.

Doors shrugged.

"A lot of our people were arrested today by Sandoval. We need to see that they're freed as soon as possible." Doors changed the subject.

"Our people were in that crowd today?"

"Yes. Perhaps you'll recognize this." Doors said and proceeded to recite the heckler's rather colorful curse to the Taelons and their agents. Boone nodded, remembering all too well.

"An original piece of work, Jonathan?" he asked.

Again Doors shrugged.

"Excuse me." Boone finally said, readying himself to see Kayeight. He left the main area of the nerve center and walked to an area that the they used as safe house of sorts. He knew that Kayeight was in the last room in the hallway, a guard sitting outside of her room. Doors still wasn't trusting her. Upon seeing him the guard left with a nod.  
He knocked on the door.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Katie." He opened the door cautiously and found her seated on a cot against the room's back wall. The lights were dim but he could the worry cut so clearly on her face. He shut the door and sat down beside her on the cot.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you today." he said.

"Will, I don't understand any of this. I don't understand what's going on. The  
last thing I remember was that people trusted them and now there's distrust and a resistance going on."

"Life has gotten complicated over the last year, I'll grant you that. Especially  
my life." he admitted, thinking upon the life he'd lived over the last year.

"How did you get involved in all this, Will? What made you become an agent for the resistance while pretending to side with the Companions?" she asked. He felt for her hand, the lights still low enough to where they could not see one another clearly.

"In the last year of my life...without you...I was fighting for a long time to  
get through the grief and anger because I knew somehow you'd been murdered.

The Resistance approached me to take the implant that they had re-engineered  
and to begin working for the Companions. The Companions think my loyalties are solely given to them."

"Does any of that really matter now?" he asked quietly after a few moments of silence. Kayeight used her free hand to turn on the room's lights.

"Will, what happened to your face?" she asked, noticing the stitches. She touched his face instinctually, causing Boone to wince slightly.

"Let's just say I had a run in with a baseball bat earlier today."

"Can you stay with me?" she asked suddenly.

"Nothing is going to tear me away from you tonight."

Roddenberry's Park

In the days just before the arrival of the Companions, this park had been run down and the crime in the neighborhood was at its highest that anyone could remember in years. Children were not free to play here...

Now, it was restored and the Companions had helped to reduce the crime rate not only here but all over the country, and world for that matter. There was so much goodness that had been brought to Earth through their arrival...

Julieanne waited for Trevor seated on a park bench just under the park's largest oak tree. The tree had not been here on her last visit and she knew that since the Companions arrival, they had developed a miracle food for a variety of plants which caused them to grow over night, and yet this oak tree was already the size and strength of a 25 years equivalent.

She saw Trevor as he strolled across the park, carrying nothing in his arms, no papers, no nothing. He saw her and waved a greeting, a smile lighting up his features. They met in an embrace that old friends can so comfortably share with one another.

"It's so good to see you again, Julieanne." he said as they were seated on the bench.

"Yes, it is good. How's Catherine?" Trevor looked away from her.

"She left me 6 months ago." he breathed.

"Trevor, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It was over between us a longtime ago.." he looked at her.

"But we didn't agree to this meeting to discuss my problems. I brought the information that you requested concerning Kaitlin..Kate Boone." he said and pulled out his global link. He quickly summoned the information on its screen. He gave it to Belman, allowing her to skim over the report.

"Three vials of blood were drawn for a pregnancy test?" she asked, looking at him. He reached for her hand.

"Julieanne, what I am about to tell you could cost me my career, maybe my life if word of this gets out. About a week before Mrs. Boone came in, I was approached by an agent of the Companions seeking my cooperation in providing them blood samples, preferably  
healthy women who were not expecting. I agreed somewhat relunctantly to provide them with several samples. I remember that Kate Boone's blood was among them." he answered.

"You did this without the consent or knowledge of your patients?"

"The agent swore to me that the Taelons only wished to study human blood. He swore that no harm would come to any of my patients."

"Was this agent from Washington D.C.?"

"Yes."

"Was he Asian, about 5'9"?"

"No, he wasn't. He was Caucasian."

"Light hair?"

"Yes! His name was Agent Lassiter, I believe."

"Sandoval's aide."

"Trevor told me he clearly remembers it was an FBI agent from Washington D.C. that came and presented the Companions' request for his cooperation that day. What's more he told me it was Agent Lassiter who made the request." Dr. Belman was in a meeting now with Doors, Lili, and Augur. Boone was not brought into their meeting upon her request, considering the information she had acquired.

"Lassiter?! That means the order came straight from Sandoval himself, and possibly from Da'an." Lili said.

"At the very least from the Taelon Synod." Belman agreed.

"Now if there were some...subtle way of questioning Sandoval about what those orders were from the Taelons. There's more to this than random blood samples." Doors said.

"What's more important is discovering how they made such a perfect clone of Kate. She appears to have Kate's memories. Everything that defined Kate Boone when she was alive that clone now has." Lili said.

"Agreed."

"I'm worried about Boone. He's seeing less and less that she is a Taelon clone. I think his judgment might soon be impaired." Lili voiced her concerns quietly.

Doors looked to Augur.

"Do you think you could break into FBI personnel records?" he asked.

Augur shrugged. "It shouldn't be too hard. I assume you want Agent Lassiter's record? His place of residence?" Doors nodded.

"Jonathan, what are you planning?"

"Oh, to extend an invitation to Agent Lassiter."

Agent Lassiter looked at his watch and suppressed a groan. It was well after midnight when he left the office of the American Companion. Working for the Companions was rewarding enough but sometimes the hours stunk. Lassiter bade goodnight to his supervisor, Agent Sandoval, and walked down the street to where he had parked his car. This was another thing that annoyed him. Half the time he couldn't get a parking place close to the Taelon building. He had to walk everyday two to three blocks. It was good for exercise but not for after midnight strolls...

In the distance somewhere a cat meowed and a dog barked. The FBI agent paid little attention to the distant animals as he pulled out the keys to his car...

Someone placed a gloved hand over Lassiter's mouth, injected him with a fast working drug, and Sandoval's aide fell limp in his abductor's arms...

Lassiter was taken to an abandoned warehouse that was now used by the Resistance for this one purpose- to question him about his involvement with the Taelon experiment.  
The Resistance had also procured a set of drugs that would make even a man with a removed tongue confess what they wanted to know. Doors and Dr. Belman watched the interrogation from another room via a video camera.

It took nearly an hour before Lassiter would confess anything worth their interest. The interrogator kept on...

"Who gave you the order?"

"Agent Sandoval." Lassiter responded his speech slurred as though he had been drinking.

"What did this order entail?"

"That several doctors be selected for an experiment. The Companions wished to conduct-"

"Nevermind that. What were your orders from Sandoval, in detail if you please, Agent Lassiter."

"I was ordered to request assistance from various medical doctors for a Taelon experiment in which we were to collect blood samples from healthy woman in their late 20's and or in their early 30's." Lassiter replied.

"Do you know what purpose this served?"

"That was not revealed to me."

The interrogator looked up towards the camera.

"...that was not revealed to me."

Doors glanced over at Dr. Belman. "Are you sure he can't lie under that drug?"

"I'm positive. He just simply doesn't know."

"We'd have to question Sandoval then to find anything out."

"Yes."

Doors let out a disgusted sigh and pressed a button.

"All right. Sedate him and then send a message to the Taelons and let them know where to find him." he looked at her. "We should leave too."

Bodyguards met them at the door. Doors was quiet as they left the building, obviously disappointed by little of what Lassiter knew about the Companions. Julieanne picked up on his mood, and she threaded her hand into the crook of his arm. It was a short distance  
walk to their car.

"We'll found out somehow, Jonathan." she said quietly.

"I'm not sure of how we're going to found it out. Boone can't be used or told about this. It's too dangerous for Lili." he said. "We may have to kidnap Da'an's attaché for awhile."

She laughed. "Trust me, Jonathan, you won't get anywhere with Sandoval either. The CVI won't allow the drugs to effect him in any way.."

"Hmmmm..."


	7. Chapter 7

"...So we're basically back to square one." Lili said as she finished listening to Augur explain the situation.

"Not exactly. Doors wants to try and talk to one of the scientists involved in the experiment. Which reminds me, I have work to do." Augur said. He swung his seat back around to face his computer.

He called up the research center's personal files, finding that there were over 100 research projects in progress and over 400 scientists working on them.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" Lili asked leaning over his shoulder. Augur shot her a look and snorted.

"Of course." he said and called up a specific set of files.

He reduced the list to 12 scientists in a matter of minutes. He called up a woman's picture in a few more seconds. He pointed  
to the screen.

"That is your target, Doors."

"How did you deduce that she is the appropriate choice, Augur?" Doors asked coming up beside Lili and startling her.

"According to what Dr. Belman told me, and..." he scrolled down her file. "She is the chief human researcher for this project."

Doctor Sandy Shaw made her way out of the Madison Research Center, anxious to get home. It had been a long day for her...for all of the research team for that matter! They had spent the day working with their Taelon counterparts, trying to regain the progress that they had been making in their research.

With Project K8-18-4719-8 stolen she doubted that was even possible. It had originally taken them months to complete that clone as to where she could survive on her on. My'Har had just completed a transfer of memories when she was stolen.

Upon reaching her car she discovered that someone had vandalized two of its tires. Not willing to ride home with one of her colleagues she flagged down a taxi.

"Four hundred Parker Lane." she said.

Before the driver could pull away from the curb, another passenger entered the cab and gave his instructions to the cabbie. Sandy soon realized that they were going the wrong way. Her door locked.

"Let me out." she said.

"Relax, Dr. Shaw. You need to have more of an open mind about people." her fellow passenger said. She looked at him and then the cabbie.

"Jonathan sent you, didn't he?" she asked.

"That's right." the cabbie said.

She relaxed. "What does he want?" she asked.

"You'll have to wait and see, doctor. Doors doesn't tell us his business." the man beside her replied. He was really one of Doors' bodyguards.

Jonathan Doors waited for his operatives to arrive with Dr. Shaw on a pier at an unnamed lake. His bodyguard watched for the taxi, and as he saw it approaching he notified Doors.

As the taxi stopped Sandy got out pulling on her coat and the sudden chill of the air. She didn't notice the bodyguard as she approached Doors.

"Jonathan, I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon." she began without preamble.

"You've not done your job, doctor." he replied, a cold emphasis on her title. "You were supposed to keep us informed of the Taelon experiments you were conducting at your lab. Instead I had to find out about your cloning experiment from another one of our operatives."

"Jonathan, it's too dangerous at times to contact you. You're not exactly the most endearing man on the Taelons' top ten list right now." she replied.

"If you can't handle the heat you shouldn't have thrown your piece of wood into our fire. I have neither the time nor patience to waste on someone who's not willing to take some risks to save humanity." he replied, his tone harsh and abrasive.

"What do you want, Jonathan?" she asked.

"I want to know just what you and those Taelon scientists have been working on. I also want to know which Companion agents have been involved in this." he replied.

"All right. I'll tell you want to you want to hear."

"Thank you."

A sound night's sleep had evaded Boone for so long that he had began to believe it was an impossible thing to have anymore. And yet at being able to share a bed with his wife again brought on a deep sleep that he could have never hoped for otherwise.

Kayeight laid beside him, her head propped up on one elbow as she watched him in his sleep. Kate had often done this whenever she had any trouble sleeping, watching and contemplating on how she had ever been fortunate enough to marry such a man as Will Boone.

This Kayeight retained so much of the original...

She loved him just as Kate Boone had...

Suddenly pain shot through her lower abdomen and Kayeight gasped as she laid back against the pillows. She had been having these pains for the last day. She hadn't mentioned it to Dr. Belman because she knew something was terribly wrong with her inside.

She looked at the man sleeping beside her and felt a rush of tears. She loved him so much and she knew that whatever was ahead that it would be the hardest on him...

Boone stirred in his sleep and he turned over to face her.

"Kate?" he said quietly. He sat up to face her. "Is something wrong?"

Kayeight smiled at him and took his hand.

"No, I just couldn't sleep that's all. Nothing to worry about, Will." she lied, the pain in her abdomen still dull but worsening.

"You should have wakened me. I would have kept you company." he said.

She smiled. "You needed some sleep. Dr. Belman tells me that you've not slept  
well for a long time." she replied.

"I haven't." he admitted. He looked away for a second, the CVI taking hold of his conscious thoughts. It brought back so many painful memories to mind. "Now that you're here with me again, it's not such an easy thing to be tired anymore."

She patted the bed beside herself and he laid back beside her. Kayeight laid her head on her his chest, taking his hand. Tears were again present in her eyes as they laid there in silence. She knew somehow that she didn't have long to live and she prayed for him.

"Tell me about your life over the last year, Will." she said.

"What do you want to hear about it?"

"The people that have come into your life since..."


	8. Chapter 8

When Lassiter didn't show up, Sandoval immediately suspected that something had happened to his aide. He was just about to put together a search team when the Resistance contacted him and told him where to find Lassiter.

Now Lassiter laid in Dr. Belman's office, unconscious and it appeared he would be that way for awhile. She immediately started to filter out the sedatives in his system.

"I'm sorry but he's going to be out for awhile. A day at the very least, he's so pumped full of sedatives."

"What was Doors trying to learn?" Sandoval said to no one in particular.

He looked at Belman. "Keep this quiet if you please, doctor. Inform no one of his condition but me."

"Not even Da'an, Agent Sandoval?" she asked.

"I'll brief Da'an on everything. Understood?" he lied.

"I won't say anything."

"He was definitely concerned that I would inform Da'an concerning Lassiter's condition. He's trying to keep something from Da'an." Belman said. She now was in conference with Doors and Lili.

"He had an involvement with an experiment that Da'an was not informed about and he's been ordered to keep quiet by the Synod. He knows Da'an won't be pleased with his keeping secrets." Lili said.

"For the moment, that part is irrelevant. My source at the Madison Research Center gave me full details about their experiment. Apparently the Taelons developed something they called virrolsha[uhaa. Literally translated it means soul transfer. They've developed a way to transfer someone who's newly deceased, their memories, to that of a clone. That's what they've done in the case of Boone's wife." Doors said.

"Are you saying Kate was killed because they needed her memories?" Lili asked.

"Yes. There's more. Whoever it was who took her memories had to be close to Kate when she died."

"That just proves Sandoval's hand in all of this. He probably hired Corr to kill her and do whatever it was the Taelons wanted." Lili said, sounding rather angry. She got up to pace.

"Lili, you can't tell Boone any of this." Doors said.

She glared at him. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't when I feel like ripping out Sandoval's spleen myself and shoving it down his throat." Lili replied.

"It won't bring Kate Boone back and it'll endanger all of us." he replied. "For what it's worth, he's not my most favorite Taelon lackey either but we can't go murdering him either or Da'an will crack down so hard on our movement he'll crush the very life from us." Doors replied.

"What do we do then, Jonathan?"

"We make sure that the Taelons are not able to do this to anyone else again." he replied.

"How? You're not suggesting a raid are you?" she asked.

"It's already been taken care of." he replied.

"...This was the scene early this morning when a fire was started at Madison Research Center. The cause is unknown but however it is believed to have been started intentionally by the Liberation of Jonathan Doors in retaliation for allegations that the Companions were conducting human cloning experiments here at this facility."

Da'an waved the datastream off, turning to face his fellows Mi'har and Ne'eg along with Sandoval.

"This is a great loss, one which will be costly to both us and humanity in the long term." Mi'har said quietly.

"It appears that Mr. Doors remains determine to ruin our agenda for this world." Ne'eg said.

Da'an looked to Sandoval. "Where is Boone?"

Sandoval's thoughts were clearly elsewhere. He was startled when he realized that Da'an had spoken to him.

"I have not seen him this morning, Da'an."

"Please summon him at once."

"Of course."

Boone awakened to the sound of his global bleeping. Kayeight picked it up from where he had left on a small table near the bed and handed it to him. Boone opened it.

"Boone, Da'an requests your presence immediately at his office." Sandoval said without preamble.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes." He shut the link before Sandoval could get another word in. He looked at Kayeight. "Duty calls." he said wearily. She smiled and kissed him.

"Hurry back, Will. I miss you too much when you're gone." she said.

"I will." he promised. He opened the link to call Lili.

"All right, Boone, I'll be there in 5 minutes. See you then."

Lili was still in their nerve center when Boone called her. She closed her link with a snap. "I'd better leave before he finds out that I'm still here." she said getting up.

"Remember, Lili, not a word about what we know about Sandoval." Doors reminded her.

"I won't endanger our movement, Jonathan." she replied and left.

Kayeight spent the day in the laboratory with Dr. Belman, helping her.

"I have to do something otherwise I'll go mad." she had said. Dr. Belman in the meantime was still conducting tests on the Taelon clones they had taken.

"Could you bring me that tray over there please?" Dr. Belman asked.

She was bent over a scanner. Kayeight picked up the tray and was half way across the room when she had a sharp pain in her abdomen. She dropped the tray as she nearly doubled over in pain. In an instant Dr. Belman was at her side. Augur came into the lab upon hearing the crash.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Help me to get her to a bed, Augur."

They helped her over to a bed and Kayeight laid down. Augur stayed at her side as Dr. Belman prepared to run some scans. Kayeight reached for Augur's hand as the pain worsened. Augur cringed as she squeezed.

"Doctor, I believe she's in a lot of pain." he said.

"Oh my..." Dr. Belman breathed. She grabbed an injection gun and walked over to Kayeight's bed. She injected Kayeight with a pain reliever and immediately she relaxed. "How long have you had these pains?" she asked.

"Three, maybe four days."

"Have they always been this strong?"

"They've gotten worse in the last day. What's wrong with me?" Dr. Belman looked up at Augur. She nodded him to the side of the room. "Get Jonathan." she said simply. He nodded and left. She returned to Kayeight's side, looking closely at Kayeight's readings. Kayeight still appeared to be in pain.

"Are you still in a lot of pain?" Dr. Belman asked.

Kayeight nodded.

"If I give you anything else it'll make you want to sleep."

"Don't then." Kayeight managed a whisper. Dr. Belman was about to move off when Kayeight spoke again. She laid a hand on the doctor's arm. "I'm dying, aren't I ?"

Dr. Belman stared at her simply.

"I'm not sure." she answered.

"It's not me I'm worry or even grieve for. Please I need to know. I need to know for Will's sake."

"I need to run a few tests and then I can tell you something." She looked up as Jonathan entered the lab. She motioned to him to go back outside.

After he left, she looked back to Kayeight. "I'll be back in a minute." Kayeight nodded. "Stay with her please, Augur."

The cybergenius nodded.

"What's wrong?" Doors asked upon seeing the grim expression on her face. Julieanne sighed.

"I can't be sure as of yet but I believe that she's dying, Jonathan."

"When will you know for certain?" he asked.

"I need to run some tests first."

He nodded and started to leave when she laid a hand on his arm.

"Jonathan, Will should be told. I don't believe that she'll survive more than  
a few days."

"I'll contact Lili."

Lili was seated in the shuttle awaiting Boone's return from the meeting with Da'an and the two Taelon scientists when her global bleeped. She sighed and opened it.

"Jonathan, why the-"

"I wouldn't have called if this wasn't important. Where's Boone?"

"He's still in with Da'an. Jonathan, what's wrong? It's Kate, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh, please dear God, no. Is she dying?"

The look on his face answered Lili's question.

"I don't think that he's going to be able to withstand losing her again. It nearly killed him the first time...Listen, Jonathan, let me tell him. Just let me speak to Dr. Belman first." He nodded and motioned to someone out of Lili's view. A few moments later Dr. Belman appeared on the global's screen...

When Boone finally emerged from Da'an's chamber he was clearly upset with someone, most likely Doors. He sat down in his seat.

"Let's go." he said.

"Back to the office?" Lili asked.

"Yes."

Lili found that she couldn't speak. Finally Boone broke the silence...

"We need to both talk to Jonathan. He's going to wind up really ticking the Taelons off. Zo'or is already demanding that the Synod take more of an action against the Liberation..." Suddenly he stopped. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Doors called me why you were with Da'an."

"It's Kate, isn't it?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Lili looked at him. "Yes..."

"How serious?" he asked. He was afraid to even breathe.

"It's serious. Dr. Belman said that she's..."

"Dying." it really wasn't a question.

Lili couldn't look at him any more. She turned again in her chair to face the virtual control panel. Lili felt tears in her eyes because of the pain she knew that he was already going through. She was hurting too for her friend.

"Listen, I'll take care of things at the office. Is Da'an going to be calling you anytime soon?" she asked.

"No, Sandoval has things under control."


	9. Chapter 9

Boone quickly made his way into the Liberation's Headquarters. He noted the stares of its members as he made his way towards Dr. Belman's lab.

She intercepted him at the door.

"How much time?" he asked.

"Three, maybe four days. I'm sorry, Will. I only wish there was something I could do for her." Belman replied.

"I want to see her."

"Augur and I moved her back to her room."

She watched him go and turned to see Jonathan watching them both. Their eyes met and for a second she saw sadness in his eyes and then he turned away...

"Katie?"

Kayeight laid with her eyes closed. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. She attempted to sit up and was rewarded by pain..

"Whoa. Lie down." he said gently.

"Will, hold me please." she pleaded.

Gently he helped her into his arms. They remained that way in silence for several minutes before she broke the silence.

"I don't want you to grieve." she said.

"Katie, I-"

"Will, please...don't."

If she would have looked at him right at that moment she would have seen the tears he was trying to hold back. Finally they escaped his eyes and he no Longer made an effort to hide them.

"Let's enjoy whatever time we have left together." she said.

The next few days proved difficult as Kayeight's pain increased and her time decreased. Dr. Belman had somehow gotten Da'an to grant Boone sometime away from his work, and somehow she knew that he would not inform the Synod of this request. So Will was able to spend whatever time with Kayeight whenever she was awake.

One night as she slept he left the room to talk to Dr. Belman. "Do you think she would survive the trip if I were to take her home?" he asked.

"Will, she really shouldn't be moved."

"Will she?"

"Most likely she would. But, Will, why?"

"I want her to have the chance to die at home."

"It will be more difficult for me to monitor her if she's moved from here."

"I realize that. But we didn't have this chance before. Please..."

Julianne sighed. "All right. I'll give you medication for her pain."

"Thank you."

With Lili's help, Boone was able to move Kayeight home. As they laid her in the bed, he looked to Lili. As Lili's eyes met his she understood his unspoken request.

"If you need anything, Will, don't hesitate to call me." she said.

"I won't. Thanks, Lili."

With that the Marine ex-fighter pilot left them alone. The moment she left, Kayeight awoke with a start, not knowing where she was. The room was dark and she couldn't see or make out Will's form.

"Will?" she called.

"I'm here, Katie."

"Where am I ? It feels like I'm home again in our bed."

She felt his hand take hers.

"That's because you are. Lili and I brought you home."

She smiled as her eyes adjusted to the dark room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.  
"I feel better."

"You're not feeling any pain?"

"No, I'm not But I would like to feel your arms around me."

"That is easily taken care of." he said. He laid beside her in the bed, Kayeight placing her head on his chest. For that moment, Will shut out everything else that was happening, including the fact he was about to lose his wife again, and just concentrated on the joy that feeling her presence again in their bed brought to him.  
The next day came and Kayeight lost consciousness late in the afternoon. Dr. Belman came to check on her and she held out no hope of her ever waking up again.

Will stayed with her, holding her as he spoke quietly to her. This is how Lili found her friend when she came to stay that night with them.

It was the middle of the night when Kayeight took her last breathe...

The next morning came and Doors called Lili to their headquarters. Lili was somewhat reluctant to leave Will, but in the end she went to the meeting for them both knowing that Will would be unable to handle it at that moment.

"We have to allow the Taelons to find something or Sandoval is going run us into the ground." Doors said. He had just purposed leaving Kayeight's body to where the Taelons would find it.

"I can't believe you're even suggesting it, Jonathan! You didn't spend the night there with him! I did! Jonathan, he is grieving very hard right now and to do this-"

"We have no choice."

"Jonathan, I can't do this to Boone and don't you ask me to. Please just let him grieve in peace." Lili said.

"He's right."

Lili turned in shock to stare at Augur.

"How can you both be so cold?" she replied.

"If there were some way to get around this without hurting Boone further then I'd go for that plan. But Jonathan is right, Lili. Unless of course you'd rather let Sandoval run us into the ground."

Lili sighed in defeat...

"Just give him some time, will you?"


	10. Chapter 10

Dr. Belman came to confirm what Boone already knew to be true. She confirmed that Kayeight had died. Even though she had been dead for some time, Will still held her, unwilling to say goodbye to her...

Dr. Belman gently touched him...

"Will, you should get some sleep now."

"I can't." he replied.

"Consider it doctor's orders. Come on in the living room and lie down. I'll give you a sedative to help you sleep." she said. Finally he stirred and she watched as he laid Kayeight's body back on the bed. She gazed into his eyes and clearly saw the signs that he had been weeping...

He allowed her to lead him to the front part of the house and he literally almost fell upon the couch. Dr. Belman gave him a shot of a sedative wanting it to take effect on him as soon as possible. As she watched he quickly fell asleep. After covering him with a blanket she took out her global and punched in a number.

"He's asleep. I want you to know that I don't approve of this in the slightest, Jonathan." she said.

"It has to be done. I'm sorry. The team is on its way."

She snapped the link shut and looked back to Boone.

"I'm sorry, Will."

Sandoval's men did the job that they were trained to do well. However they still found no clues as to where to locate Jonathan Doors or the Liberation Movement...

One day, Mr. Doors. One day, he vowed mentally as though Doors could hear him.  
Now he stood before Da'an giving an account of their find. Da'an stood up from his chair and stepped down walking passed his attaché. He kept walking. Sandoval followed wordlessly as Da'an headed to where Kayeight's body was being examined by Mi'har and Dr. Belman...

"What are your findings?" Da'an inquired as he gazed at the clone of Kate Boone. Dr. Belman looked at him.

"She's been dead for at least several hours."

"The cause of her death, doctor?"

"I have still yet to perform the autopsy. Until I do I won't know what she died of."

Da'an nodded. "Continue please. Agent Sandoval, rejoin me in my chamber in ten minutes." Da'an said.

"Yes, Da'an."

When Sandoval entered Da'an's chamber, Da'an was looking at something over the datastream. It was a recording of a private conversation that the Synod had shared with Sandoval over a year ago...

Sandoval instantly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Da'an's displeasure with him was apparent as he came to a stop before the Companion. Da'an discontinued the datastream projection with a wave of his hand before looking down to his implant. The Companion's look cut through Sandoval like a hot knife through butter and Sandoval found himself wishing he could escape Da'an at that very moment...

"Why?" Da'an asked in a quiet voice. He noted that Sandoval's gaze was not meeting his own. But Sandoval was not someone who feared the consequences of his actions if it served the Companions...

"When the Synod ask me to fulfill the wishes of Ne'eg and Mi'har, they did not wish for me to reveal any information regarding-"

'Agent Sandoval, the Synod did not order you to keep your participation in this experiment from me." Da'an cut him off, his tone cold. "I should be able to trust my own attaché but your actions in this matter have breached this trust..." Sandoval up at him. "...I am disappointed in your actions, Agent Sandoval." Da'an finished.

"Da'an, I-" the implant began.

"Until further notice another shall serve as my attaché."

Sandoval was clearly stunned by this.

"You will receive your new assignment by tomorrow morning. Until that time, you are dismissed from your duties to the companions." Da'an finished.

It was clear that Sandoval wanted to speak but he did not as Da'an turned his chair away from Sandoval. The implant quickly left. If Da'an had chosen to meet his gaze just then he would have just how deeply his words had stung Sandoval.

After Will returned to the service of the Companions, Da'an noticed that he did not seem himself. He was hiding something, something which had hurt him deeply. After everyone had left the embassy that night, Da'an called Will to his office.

"I am sorry to summon you at this hour." Da'an began.

"How may I be of use to you, Da'an?"

Da'an looked at Boone as though a stranger had spoken to him. Da'an turned to face night time Washington DC, struggling to find the right words to say to Boone.

"You are as you were, Boone, after the death of your wife." he said.

Boone hid his feelings well.

"I am concerned after our discovery of the cloning project." Da'an paused and when he resumed he spoke quietly in his native tongue.

I understand your sorrow. he said quietly.

"Da'an, this is not something I wish to share or discuss. This something I have to deal with alone." Will replied.

The Companion looked into Boone's eyes and saw the pain there.

"You may leave, Boone." he resumed his speech in English. Boone nodded and quickly left the room. Da'an turned himself back towards Washington DC and spoke an ancient Taelon prayer for the healing of his human friend...


End file.
